Mother Meltdown

That would be mother as in motherboard. Tom got the news from a Dell customer-service agent in India two nights ago that our motherboard is fried. Indeed, our CPU is completely unresposive to any attempt to boot it up. No clicks. No coughs. No sputters. No smoke. Nothing. We have suspected for a while that we were in need of more memory and a new system in general, but we had no idea that we were on the brink of a meltdown. Tom has removed our memory cards, and we have our fingers crossed that we will be able to transfer them to our new computer. We are now in the market for a new computer. Shopping for electronics isn't exactly my idea of a shopping spree, but it's tough to be without a computer in the house. So, until we are up and running again, the blog posts will be on hold. Hopefully, the computer shopping will be quick and painless! Stay tuned . . .

The She Patch

Here are some shots of Marci in the patch. She was quite amused by the big, orange globes. She sat and sat while I fired away on the camera.

There were a few minutes there, where I just couldn't stop taking her picture!

I think she was getting into it, too.

Alas, she has given up the bottle, but she's holding fast on the paci!

The He Patch

Osten had a ball at the patch. If he picked up a dozen pumpkins, he picked up a hundred!

And he dropped a few, too.

This pumpkin made for the perfect stool.

And this pumpkin was just the right size for Osten to tote around all by himself. He carried this one home on his lap.

The We Patch

Here's a rare shot of the four of us. Darned sun was moving so quickly that Daddy and I got caught in it. By this point, Osten was through posing for pictures, so there was no time for a retake!

Love hurts!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch today was mostly lots of fun--until it was time for the choke-hold hug shot!

One Fish, Two Fish

On Saturdays, we've been taking the kids to a swim class at a local pool. They have both done remarkably well, and we've really enjoyed helping them learn to be comfortable in the water. Marci has especially enjoyed the pool and is a big fan of the back stroke!

Osten has learned to jump to Daddy from the side of the pool and can climb out of the pool by himself. Both kids have learned to hold their breaths, too, and we've had a good time going underwater with them.

The class is only 45-minutes in length, but we are always pooped when we leave. Usually, by about Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, Osten is inquiring about when we can go back to the pool!

Although Osten is not such a fan of having his hair towel-dried, he gets a kick out of watching Daddy trying to convince him that it's a good idea!

Here Kitty, Kitty

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a fall festival in our neighborhood. They had activities for the kids, and Osten made this cat mask (with a little bit of help). He was very proud of his creation, and I happened to catch this picture of him the other morning wearing his mask while he was eating breakfast (in his favorite Spiderman pajamas).